I love music. I’d love to rock the stage like Jay-Z but I can’t. I’m self aware that I will never be Jay-Z so I don’t aspire to be him. But….I do have the skills to aspire to be the next Neil Patel (even our last names are the same ;) ).

When you’re young, your parents send you to play soccer and learn piano like every kid in the neighborhood. Apart from 3-4 kids, chances are most of you sucked at both and yet parents sent you there.

OK Smit, what are you trying to say?

Stop doing things which you aren’t going to be one of the best at.

Just because the average surgeon makes 6 figures or the average engineer gets a cushy job easily doesn’t mean you will be one of them. For every Jobs and Zuckerberg, there’s a million failed ones. Why? Because they thought they could do it too without realizing what their strengths are.

Self awareness can make or break you. If you are self aware, you will realize what you’re good at and not so good at. Being true to yourself will push you in the right direction.

It is the reason I decided not to become an engineer like most of my fellow Indians. I tried my hand at coding and quickly realized that that I couldn’t become the best at it because I was never an arithmetic or logic type of a guy. I was always on the creative and tactical side so I focused my energies on what I could become good at: marketing and business development.

Lying to yourself about what you’re good at will take you down the wrong path where the end result will be failure from the day you begin. But…you can make money even by sharpening pencils if you are the best at it.